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Heterospecific transcription of the Escherichia coli rpoB-3 allele in Gram-negative bacteria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

Zainab Al-Doori
Zainab Al-Doori
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Biology, King's Buildings, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JR, Scotland, U.K.
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Summary

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rpoB is the structural gene for the β-subunit of E. coli RNA polymerase. The rpoB-3 allele confers resistance to the antibiotic rifampicin and is unusual in being dominant to the wild-type allele. We used the plasmid pZD23, a derivative of the broad host range conjugative plasmid RP4, to introduce the rpoB-3 allele into a range of bacterial species. Species belonging to the same family as E. coli (Enterobacter aerogenes, Citrobacter freundii, Hafnia alvei møller, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhimurium) expressed rpoB-3 to give a rifampicin resistant phenotype; this demonstrated heterospecific transcription. The transfer of pZD23 to the non-Enterobacteriaceae species Azotobacter vinelandii and Rhizobium leguminosarum did not result in rifampicin resistance. In the former case this was due to non-expression of the rpoB-3 resistance phenotype, in the latter case the dominant resistance phenotype had been lost from pZD23. Heterospecific transcription can be used as a criterion for the investigation of genetic relatedness between bacterial species.

Type
Research Article
Information
Genetics Research , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , October 1987 , pp. 87 - 90
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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